[thelist] e-commerce

[the head lemur]

Following the e-commerce thread, deke brings up a very important point.

> I want item A. It's $19.95.
> I want item B. It's $42.50
>
> But when I go to check out, it turns out that the total is not $62.45 but
> $97.65 because of shipping, and that they won't get around to shipping
> them for six or eight weeks.
>
> Let me tell you, if Walmart charged you $30 to store your merchandise
> for six weeks before you were allowed to have it, they'd have a lot of
> abandoned sales in their brick-and-mortar stores, too.

You can build, buy, remodel all the shopping cart software you want, but if
you cannot get my money you have failed to sell stuff. If it is too
complicated, the shipping is too high, I will be retired before it gets
here.

Selling stuff on the web means less than nothing if you can't get the
product to my house.  It is about price, convenience and service.

Price is a real issue as you can compare, bid your price, reverse bid in
concert with others to get a better deal.

Convenience means that it is easy to buy. Get me through the checkout faster
than I can get to the store, go through the aisles, answer my questions, get
to the checkout line and out the door.

Service is the area that is lacking in a lot of websites. Tell me all about
the product
and if you can't, in the case of used auto parts from wrecking yards, be
sure that I can contact you by email, fax and phone.

One of the selling points used by working pixel mechanics is the cost
effectiveness and immediacy of a website. Pixels are cheap compared to paper
catalogs, brochures, TV and Radio Advertising. Full Color costs no more than
black and white. A printer will give you a far different story:) You can
pass on increases and savings much faster on the web than going back to the
printer.
(plus you can make a few bucks with updates)

<tip Type=ecommerce>
supply a fax form on your site for closing sales. It helps with charge backs
when a customer says they never got it. A signature goes a long way towards
proving that johnny didn't do it.
</tip>

<tip Type=ecommerce>
be sure the client makes you aware of suggestions for improving their sites.
websites are not fire and forget, they are living breathing things.
Visitors are  much better usability testers than the bosse's wife or the
marketing departments need for huge files, between the front door and the
money page.
</tip>

<tip Type=ecommerce>
Impress on your clients that not answering their email is worse than letting
the phone ring. You can ask any damn fool question over the phone. An email
lead has pre-qualified themselves and deserves the very best service your
client has to offer.
</tip>

<tip Type=ecommerce>
Shipping Charges- UPS offers World Ship which will allow you to calculate
shipping and give your customers a bottom line number. It will also print
the address label and provide you a method of providing the customer the
tracking number so they can track their stuff, freeing up your phone line
for more sales rather than answering "where's my stuff" phone calls.
</tip>

the head lemur
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